Female Artists Absent In Mediabase Country Airplay Top 20 For Second Consecutive Week
Amidst a troubling trend, the Mediabase Country Airplay chart remains void of solo female hits in the Top 20 for the second consecutive week.
Carly Pearce, Lauren Alaina, Kelsea Ballerini, Ashley McBryde; Photos by Andrew Wendowski
For the second consecutive week, the Mediabase Country Airplay chart features no solo-credited songs by female artists within the Top 20. This concerning trend was pointed out by U.S. Radio Updater on X (formerly Twitter).
The only woman with a song currently in the Top 20 is Lainey Wilson, however, it’s as a feature with Jelly Roll on “Save Me.”
Only Four Female Artists In The Top 40
The only female artists represented in the chart’s Top 40 with solo-credited songs are Gabby Barrett with “Glory Days” at No. 25, Carrie Underwood with “Out Of That Truck” at No. 30, Megan Moroney with “I’m Not Pretty at No. 31, and Lainey Wilson with her new single, “Wildflowers And Wild Horses” at No. 38.
With only four solo-credited songs by female artists in the Top 40, this week’s chart includes just 10% representation by female artists.
“Tomato-gate”
The lack of female artists on the chart represents an ongoing challenge within the country music genre and has been a topic of conversation since the “Tomato-gate” uproar of 2015. This was brought about by country radio executive Keith Hill, who infamously compared females on country radio to tomatoes in a salad.
“If you want to make ratings in country radio, take females out,” Hill remarked in 2015. “I play great female records … they’re just not the lettuce in our salad. The lettuce is Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton, Keith Urban and artists like that. The tomatoes of our salad are the females.”
At the time, Hill cited an analysis that revealed female airplay on country radio stood at a mere 19 percent.
This is when artists like Martina McBride and Jennifer Nettles began to speak out. McBride used her platform to create “tomato” shirts and donated all proceeds to her charity, Team Martina, which supports equal rights for females in the music industry. The shirt was later displayed in the Country Music Hall Of Fame.
Has Anything Changed?
Now, eight years later, the current radio landscape appears to be unchanged. In the years since “Tomato-gate” the country music community has attempted to support female artists through various programs such as CMT’s Next Women of Country franchise, CMT’s Equal Play pledge, and the female singer/songwriter showcase dubbed Song Suffragettes. In an effort to support female artists, iHeartCountry launched Women of iHeartCountry, a playlist dedicated to featuring new music and interviews.
Change The Conversation, an organization founded by successful music business executives Leslie Fram, Tracy Gershon, and Beverly Keel, aims to fight gender inequality in the music industry. According to the official Change The Conversation website, the organization provides “support, education, and community” or female artists and music industry executives.
Citing research by the University of Ottawa’s Dr. Jada Watson, Change the Conversation reports that 10% is a common statistic representing female airplay at radio. This certainly rings true for the current Mediabase Country Airplay chart.
Earlier this year, Dr. Watson, along with Jan Diehm of The Pudding, published a study dubbed “They Won’t Play A Lady-O On Country Radio,” analyzing radio airplay from 29 large-market country radio stations and found that female artists are played back-to-back just 0.5% of the time on average. This goes back to the age-old programming saying that women should not be played back-to-back on radio, and it appears that terrestrial radio programmers continue to heed the dated advice.
Streaming doesn’t play by the same rules, however. Garth Brooks vowed to play more women on his new TuneIn channel, The Big 615. He told Billboard, “balance between guys and girls is fantastic. It is nothing to hear two females back to back on this channel…If there’s something we’re seriously missing in country music right now, it’s the number of females and those voices.”
READ MORE: 10 Rising Female Stars Shaping the Future of Country Music
The newly announced nominees for the Country Radio Broadcasters (CRB) CRS 2024 New Faces of Country Music also represent gender inequality in country music. Out of the seven nominees, only one is a female artist. Those nominated include George Birge, Chayce Beckham, Dillon Carmichael, Corey Kent, Megan Moroney, Conner Smith, and Warren Zeiders.
These numbers speak for themselves, and despite the efforts that have been made to support female artists in recent years, it is clear that there is an ongoing presence of gender inequality in country music.
Lauren Jo Black is a longtime country music journalist, editor, host, and media personality whose work has helped shape the conversation around country music for nearly two decades. As the current Editor-in-Chief of Country Now, she has become one of the genre’s most respected voices, interviewing hundreds of country music’s biggest stars, including Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Shania Twain, Randy Travis, Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, Luke Combs, and countless others. Over the course of her career, Black’s written work and interviews have reached billions of country music fans worldwide. A 2009 graduate of the University of Central Florida, Black began her career by founding Country Music Is Love, one of country music’s earliest independent digital publications, which she later sold to a major record label in 2015 before it was rebranded as Sounds Like Nashville. She then served as the publication’s Editor-in-Chief for more than two years. Her work has also appeared in Forbes, and she previously served as the Country Music Expert for Answers.com. Widely recognized for her expertise, Black has appeared as a featured guest on The Bobby Bones Show, BobbyCast, and Scripps News Morning Rush, providing insight on country music’s biggest moments. She has also hosted Country Now Live, a concert series featuring performances from artists including Lady A, Dierks Bentley, Riley Green, Jordan Davis, Dustin Lynch, Gabby Barrett, Brett Young, Jon Pardi, Kip Moore, Chris Young, and more. The series has welcomed thousands of fans in person while reaching millions more online. In addition, she hosted Connect With Country Now, a weekly interview series featuring conversations with rising country stars. Throughout her career, Black has earned a reputation for discovering and championing artists long before they become household names. She has covered Luke Bryan since the early days of his career, beginning when he was writing songs for other artists, including Billy Currington’s No. 1 hit “Good Directions,” before stepping into the spotlight with his debut single, “All My Friends Say” and eventually becoming one of biggest names in music. She also gave Megan Moroney her first opportunity to walk a major red carpet as Country Now’s official guest correspondent at the 2022 CMA Awards. An interview she conducted in 2018 for Forbes.com with Luke Combs that inspired his multi-week No. 1 hit, “Doin’ This.” She has also hosted stages at CMA Fest, moderated an industry panel at Country Radio Seminar, and helped lead important conversations about the evolving landscape of country music media. Beyond journalism, Black has also used her platform to support charitable causes and highlight organizations making an impact. Through Country Now Live, she has helped raise awareness and support for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, while also advocating for animal rescue through Country Now’s Pupdate series, spotlighting organizations including MuttNation Foundation, Wags & Walks, and Proverbs 12:10 Animal Rescue. Black has been recognized as one of Country Aircheck’s Women of Influence and received the 2012 Rising Star Award from the University of Central Florida. She is a longtime member of both the Country Music Association (CMA) and the Academy of Country Music (ACM). After nearly 20 years covering country music, Lauren Jo Black has spent her career telling the stories behind the artists, songs, and moments that have shaped the genre. Her first-ever book, Country Music Forever: An A-to-Z Celebration of Icons, Songs and Stories, brings that same passion and firsthand knowledge to the page, celebrating not only the legendary artists and timeless songs that have become the soundtrack to generations of fans, but also the places, traditions, and cultural moments that have made country music one of the most beloved genres around the world.
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